FDA Drops Panelist in Conflict Case

By

Anna Wilde Mathews and

Jennifer Corbett Dooren

Updated Sept. 13, 2006 12:01 a.m. ET

The Food and Drug Administration took the unusual step of removing a member of one of its influential advisory committees after the maker of a drug under consideration complained about a potential conflict of interest.

Thomas Fleming, a prominent statistician at the University of Washington, said the FDA late last week rescinded his invitation to serve on a committee that yesterday reviewed a new use for Factive, an antibiotic made by Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corp. In a Sept. 1 letter, Oscient complained to the FDA that,...